


Rusted Roses

by JadeNightTheWriter



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, The Black Swan (Keeper of the Lost Cities), The Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities), blame tumblr ok?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeNightTheWriter/pseuds/JadeNightTheWriter
Summary: And even as fire scorched his side over his old scar, even as his hands bled from the ropes, even as they screamed questions he laughed. Because no one was coming to get him.Ever.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Rusted Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I saw this tumblr post and people want me to write it and this whole thing just snowballed. I'm so sorry Dex.

The first thing Dex registered was the dark. Wherever he was, it was pitch black, and his ears were ringing with a noiseless sound. His breathing was wet, and the air smelled moldy with a bitter tang to it.

_Drugs_.

He heard footsteps, and when he tried to sit up, he realized he was tied down. Thick, rough ropes wrapped around his torso, arms, and legs, binding him to a metal structure. Not only that, but his limbs felt heavy, and it hurt to move.

_More drugs_ , Dex thought darkly.

"Now then," came a brisk, low voice. Male, probably. "You're awake."

_Neverseen_ , he realized, growling. Then...

Oh. He was a hostage. _Him_. Memories of the last time he was kidnapped rush through him, but he doesn't feel scared.

_I should be_ terrified. _Why am I not?_

And the realization hit him like a tsunami and he laughed. It sounded broken, and twisted, but it was real. It wasn't some ploy to look confident, that he would get rescued by his friends. It was an actual genuine laugh, dark and bitter, because _no one_ was coming to get him. They wouldn't even know he's gone.

Keefe might notice, but he'd brush it off as him working on an invention. Biana would do the same. The rest wouldn't even think about him until they needed something. Even Sophie. _Especially_ Sophie. She'd be too busy doing Moonlark things, saving the world. They used to be best friends, but now...

He never knew what she's doing. They never even thought to update him.

It'd be too late. A part of him _hoped_ it would be too late, so he wouldn't have to face their apologies and worried faces. Because they were all fake.

As soon as he's better, they'll run off, save the world, and leave him behind to make gadgets.

"What the hell?" the voice from before snapped. "Why are you laughing?"

And Dex just laugher harder, because they thought he actually had worth. The enemy valued him more than his own friends, his own family.

Bex, and Rex, and Lex. They all thought it was so cool, how he helped _the_ Moonlark. His father was proud of him. His mother was in the very group that uses him without care for what he wants.

They loved him, he knew.

He loved them too.

But it hurt. It hurt to care about his friends, because _they_ care about him too. And yet they still forgot.

Time, after time, after time, and Dex was so _sick_ of it he almost hoped this was the end.

(He does hope it's the end.)

And even as fire scorched his side over his old scar, even as his hands bled from the ropes, even as they screamed questions he laughed. Because no one was coming to get him.

_Ever._

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I'm very sorry. Forgive me for I have sinned. (I'm not sorry enough yet though, because there's another chapter with the other characters!)


End file.
